Chairperson, this question is about the Public Service Commission and financial misconduct. There was a parliamentary question in this regard. Now, the allegations were made of inflated prices of land purchase for restitution purposes in Mpumalanga when there was awareness on the part of the restitution commission and the Ministry of these allegations.
There were two investigations ordered by the Department of Agriculture and Land Affairs; one by forensic auditors and one by a private evaluator. The forensic auditors actually did not indicate particular potential losses. That is not where the amount of R20 million comes from.
The private evaluator expressed an opinion in respect of prices paid, to the extent that they were inflated by about R20 million more than the market value of the relevant properties. Payment was stopped for those projects which were still in progress and the actual loss therefore was not R20 million - that just comes from that evaluator's report.
Misconduct charges were brought against the official and there was severe pressure to charge the responsible commissioner. He went to the Labour Court to force the department to charge him and to reinstate him, and eventually an order was made to charge him before a certain date. He was then formally charged. By that time, the auditor's report was out but the private evaluator only issued the preliminary report of another evaluator.
An amount of R20 million was not mentioned in the charge sheet. He was charged with 13 charges and alternatives to each. He was found guilty on three main charges or alternatives and given a chance by the then Minister, on the recommendation of the chairperson, to resign or be dismissed. He subsequently resigned.
The department sought the advice of the state attorney and senior counsel on the matter of possible recovery of the money. The advice indicated that the department will not be successful with any such claim unless the police investigation uncovered evidence of fraud or corruption relating to the R20 million. To date the police investigation has failed to uncover any such evidence. If new evidence comes to light, the department will obviously seek new advice and reconsider its position. I thank you.